Freyed Edges
by Holholchan
Summary: Madeline had anything a girl could ask for... plus she goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's her sixth year in school now, and she wants to make her last years something to remember. Who knew she'd be getting a lot of help?
1. Chapter 1

"Not too flattering, is it?" Madeline groaned, her arms spread out at her sides as she looked at herself in the mirror. There were black robes draped over her, and she was convinced that she now looked more like a blob of ink than a "blossoming" witch.

"Stop your whining." Chided a girl standing on a stool next to her while striking the same scarecrow pose, "They're not _that_ bad. Besides, you never complained before."

"Okay, they look better than they did the last five years but still! I was stuck in Curtis for seven years with scratchy shirts. I change schools and what? They've got us in sheets." She pouted.

"Get over it." Snapped the slender brunette.

The blonde girl opened the robes up and looked at herself in the mirror again, dressed in the school's uniform. She let out a half-satisfied sigh and the two of them stepped down to change back into their clothes, which made them look as though they'd just come straight from the West Coast of the U.S. They paid for their black school robes, each of them buying enough to last the year, if not three years besides, and then stepped out into the crowded street. Amongst the pointy hats and swishing cloaks in Diagon Alley, they stuck out like two bright, multi-colored sore thumbs.

Madeline took out the parchment on which was printed the materials needed for her oncoming sixth year at Hogwarts. Half of her was sinking under the weight of her purse and the other bags she was holding on one arm.

"Okay," she said slowly, "all that's left are the books, I think. We've got the Apothecary stuff -- I can't believe I let you talk me into a N.E.W.T. Potions course! -- and the new robes. Right. Okay."

As they walked into Flourish & Blott's, a bookstore with no sense of order and organization since many of the books on its shelves seemed to have a mind of their own, a book in the alcove caught Madeline's eye. Bailey suddenly stopped and Madeline found herself colliding with a large group of people just coming out the door. Gravity found favors with the side of her most weighed down, and Madeline soon found her backside making fast acquaintances with the ground. She looked up to see a flurry of redheads in front of her, mixed with a bushy-haired brunette and head of messy black hair. She felt her face go red hot under ten seconds flat, but just as she was feeling the brunt of humiliation with these nine pairs of eyes on her, Bailey began giving everyone big hugs to turn their attention away.

"Oh, Hermione! Ginny! How have you guys been? -- Oh, Ron, I'm sorry, did I get anything on you? Okay. -- Harry! Oh, I've missed you guys so much! Hey Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley. How is everyone?" Bailey greeted them all except for the twins, who pulled Madeline to her feet.

George looked her over and grinned, "That was real smooth."

The twins, Fred and George, looked just like the rest of their family -- flaming red hair and freckles. However, unlike their younger brother, Ron, who was abnormally tall and lanky for his age, they were slightly shorter and stockier. Madeline always found this comparison to Ron's height a bit intimidating, because the twins were still an inch or so taller than her. The only differences between the two were very slight, but over the course of the past few years she had mastered them.

"Yeah," chuckled Fred, "you know, we could've just pointed and laughed, but being the kind gentlemen we are... how about giving us a little compensation?"

"Uh, how 'bout no." she replied as she flipped her curly hair over her shoulder and straightened up the load of bags back on her shoulder.

"Well, that's not very nice." Said George.

"Why should I be? You guys were the ones blocking the door in the first place." she snapped. "What, are you gonna go whine about how mean I am to you now?"

He pulled out his bottom lip and Fred did the same, nodding.

Madeline rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Even though I'm the one bruising, huh?"

The bottom lips started quivering and their blue eyes looked like they were starting to water. It was such a pathetic display that she had to look away.

"You big babies." She said.


	2. Chapter 2

King's Cross Station was a bustling metropolis of people coming to and from their trains, even on a stormy Sunday morning. By the time Madeline and Bailey had hopped out of the taxi and hauled their luggage to dry safety, their clothes had been completely soaked through. They rolled their things on over to platform 9 ¾, which was conveniently located between 9 and 10, and casually leaned against the barrier, falling through in an instant with the trunks in tow.

They were immediately greeted by a haze of smoke billowing from the magical scarlet transportation device, which just happened to be fashioned like a train, the Hogwarts Express. It was warm and welcoming, but also had the tendency to come off as impatient. Pippa meowed from her towel-covered carrier when she heard the noise around her, so Madeline took the towel off for her to see. She picked up her luggage and boarded the train just after her cousin, but not before giving a brief wave to Mrs. Weasley, who had been seeing her children off and had called out her name just for a quick good-bye.

They stowed away their trunks up above the seats in a compartment halfway down, and when they did Madeline immediately settled herself in a seat next to the window. She stared at the crowd just outside, sliding her beach sandals off before crossing her legs. Just as the carrier next to her began to cry again, she unzipped it and a small black kitten came out meowing.

"Hey," Madeline called over softly to Bailey, "can you close the door?"

Bailey nodded and slid the door shut while Pippa began to roam the compartment, rubbing against this and that.

Madeline turned her attention back to the window. Every family seemed so eager to spend every last second they could with their children, and as loving a gesture that may seem to be, it depressed Madeline every year. She had only left her parents in New Orleans a week before, just like her cousin had done in California, but homesickness buried itself into her yearly train ride to school with a heavy, sickening weight. As soon as it allied itself with the lingering effects of jetlag, Madeline chose sleep as her weapon. She pulled out her cardigan sweater from the Sanrio duffel bag at her feet, as well as a Sidekick 3 from her purse. After plugging the muggle device into her ears and getting her sweater on over her picturesque summer dress, she started the music, closed her eyes and folded her arms comfortably. One eye popped open when she heard the shrill whistle that signified their departure, and felt the train lurch forward as it started toward their destination. She closed her eyes again and sunk lower into her seat, finishing off the end of her yearly before-school routine by drowning herself in sleep.

---

Madeline woke up when her music stopped, being not quite so far into the REM cycle as she would have liked. Pippa was curled up on her lap with her front paw inconveniently on the pause/play button of her phone. She took out her ear buds and tucked them through the top of her sweater, watching as Bailey dug into a Cauldron Cake across from her. Beside them both was an even split of numerous snacks, as well as a bottle labeled "Pumpkin Juice" each. Bailey looked at her, having been staring absent-mindedly at the greenery that was currently speeding by, and grinned childishly.

"I thought you could use the sugar." She said, "Eleven sickles and seven knuts can go a long way!"

Madeline chuckled and bit into a chocolate frog, taking the Famous Wizard card out from the packaging and putting it away in her purse without even looking at it.

"I know," said Madeline, with the bit of chocolate frog pushed to one side of her mouth so she could speak clearly, "It'll be my turn on the way back."

After popping the rest of the frog into her mouth she took out her Sleeping Beauty screen-print wallet and opened it up to reveal a few American dollar bills. In the coin compartment sat a dime, two galleons, a quarter, and a knut.

"Well, this won't do any good, will it? I've still got cash left over from home. Transfiguring it can't hurt, though... whatever." She said, putting the wallet away again.

Bailey shrugged and looked back out the window, "Ever notice how empty England is half the time, with all of this countryside? I mean even today it's still pretty much vacant. You'd think they'd have filled it all up after the new millennia, right?"

"Yeah," agreed her cousin half-heartedly, "but… I mean... I like it this way. Wouldn't you rather this than, like, a city or something? I mean, c'mon, save me the headaches please. It's a lot prettier, plus there's no smog, no traffic, and no drug dealers."

Bailey laughed and took a swig of her pumpkin juice, looking at the door as someone passed by and then back to the window again. Madeline looked at the door as well, but instead of looking back at the window she looked at the kitten in her lap.

"You don't suppose you could let Pippa sleep on you for a little bit, do you? I just want to say hi to everyone."

Bailey looked up at her and smiled a little as she gently grabbed and disturbed the sleeping kitten, "Just don't blow anything up or I'll have your hide."

"YOU'LL have my hide?" Madeline laughed and watched as Bailey started soothing the awoken and meowing black cat back to sleep.

Madeline stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder and turning her music back on before putting the Sidekick away in it. She brought one of the ear buds back up, listening to a song from Dirty Pretty Things as she left the compartment and went farther back, glancing through the doors as she passed to see if she recognized anyone.

Many of the students had already changed into their school uniform, although Madeline was pretty sure they weren't that close to the castle yet. She recognized many that she saw briefly in their compartments, even if she didn't know them personally. Most of the more well-known Slytherin students were in a compartment together, including Draco Malfoy and his goons. As soon as she passed it she did a double take and looked inside, seeing a thin girl with black hair and glasses just inside, and recognizing her instantly as a friend she'd had since she'd gotten there - Lise. Momentarily forgetting about the rest of the people around her friend, Madeline slid the door open and popped her head inside, grinning expectantly at Lise to come outside so they could be happy in peace.

It took a while for anyone to say anything, although they all turned to stare at her and her colorful summer dress, before Lise got up and Draco busted out, "Nice dress, Frey. But I think you under-did the Coppertone a little. Is skin cancer contagious?"

True enough, Madeline's tanned skin certainly stuck out compared to the pale Slytherins in front of her, but that wasn't a good enough excuse to keep her from laughing sarcastically and giving him two, good ole American middle fingers. Lise closed the door behind her and they moved away from the window so the cackling group couldn't listen in. They slipped into a temporarily empty compartment and just as they were out of earshot Madeline let out an ear-splitting squeal and hugged her friend. "God, I'm glad to see you! I'm surprised you're still alive, being stuck with that lot!"

"They're really not that bad. Just _some_ of them are." Lise said, "It only takes a little getting used to."

"Yeah, just a little though, right?" Madeline continued, smiling at the fourth year girl in front of her, "It's too bad he's not decent around anyone but Slytherins, or maybe we'd get along better. But don't worry. You'll be getting plenty of chances to make yourself look even better this year, I promise."

Madeline gave a conspiratorial wink and then let out a sigh as she tuned back into her music for a second. She snapped back out of it and smiled, "Ah, well, I guess I shouldn't keep you from it, he? I was just on my way to say hi to everyone."

"Alright then, well, talk to you later, I guess." Lise said, leading Madeline out of the compartment just before its original occupant came from down the narrow walkway and returned unknowingly.

Madeline watched as Lise went back to the door and just before she went inside she said, "Mosh!" which Lise then finished with, "Bubble!" before closing the door behind her.

Now that the more hind-sighted crew of Hogwarts was done and dealt with, she moved further along the train to find one compartment that might as well have been empty. Two red heads were hunched next to the window over a paper in front of them, talking so quietly she couldn't hear them until she opened the door and made the twins jump.

"Dear God, woman! What are you trying to do, give us a heart attack?" exclaimed Fred.

Madeline rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her as she slipped next to him. She smiled up at George who seemed to be preoccupied more in the paper now than he was before she'd scared half the daylights out of them.

"What're you two bozo's up to?" she asked, looking back at Fred and then to the paper in George's hand, "More order forms?"

George looked up from the paper and to Fred, as though asking him if it mattered whether or not she saw, then from Fred to Madeline. She snatched the paper in this instant and turned around to read it before they could grab it back.

"Oh, for goodness sake Fred, chill out, I'm not going to tell your mom." She said while keeping her eyes on the paper stretched out in front of her and holding Fred back with the other hand. After one good look at it George managed to grab it back from her, and it wasn't until then that Fred stopped his fight.

"What's that all about?" she asked.

"Money." Said Fred, "We made a bet with Bagman at the World Cup, you see."

George continued for him, "But he gave us leprechaun gold, and it disappeared the next morning!"

"We're simply trying to get our just rewards back."

"Well, hey, if I can help just let me know!" Madeline said, seeming particularly excited at the prospect of being able to help the twins in their endeavors.

Fred stuffed the paper away in his bag.

"Thanks, we might need the help, so we'll let you know." George said.

"But _only_ if we need it." Fred added.

They glanced at each other and Fred cleared his throat as some sort of awkward silence filled the small space around them. Madeline crossed her legs and her foot tapped along to the drums of The Legion of Doom.

She looked at Fred again and lifted the other ear bud up in front of him, "Wanna listen? It's good! I promise."

Fred laughed and shook his head, "Ha. ha. Last time I put one of those things in my ear I had boils for a week. Nice try, though."

Madeline shrugged, "Suit yourself." She offered it to George with an expectant, "Hm?"

He rolled his eyes at Fred and leaned forward so he could stick the bud in his ear and listen comfortably, "Don't go gimpy on me now, Fred."

A minute or so passed by, but as it passed he quickly gave it back, "Yeah, that's good. Hey, how do you get that thing working around here, anyway? We tried bringing a.. a whatcha-ma-callit. An iPod? from Dad's office over once, but.."

"It went completely haywire." Fred said.

George nodded and Madeline shrugged, "Spells, my dear friends, spells. I've got it working off of magic instead of electricity. And what luck for me, eh? It never has to be charged!"

"What do you mean?"

"As in.. I never have to plug it into a wall and have it sit there for a few hours for me to use it a lot."

"Oh.. wait, you actually have to do that with stuff?"

"Well, yeah. You know, that's just what people have to do when they're stuck in a ghetto neighborhood. We're just so poor we've got to plug things in before we use them." Madeline said sarcastically, even though neither of them would have caught the joke if they didn't know her well enough.

"Ha ha, go take your smart ass somewhere else." said Fred, turning his nose up in a faux snobbish manner, "_We_ have work to do."

Madeline mocked him and stood up, turning on her heel with an abrupt "Hmph." before leaving the compartment and smiling to herself as she continued on.

Another few hours passed when Ron glanced through the window and announced their arrival. Madeline scrambled over his lap and pressed her face against the glass, looking at the station just a few yards ahead and the castle lights twinkling in the distance. Hermione did the same thing just across from her, and Harry seemed to be holding in a laugh at the sight of the two girls getting so excited over getting to school. Madeline hopped up and swung her back around her shoulder again.

"Okay then!" she said happily, "I'll just be seeing you guys inside, I suppose. See you!"

And with that she left the compartment with a bounce in her step and returned to where Bailey slept, already dressed and ready to go. Pippa rubbed against Madeline's ankles, meowing hungrily. She picked the kitten up and put her away in her carrier, putting a bowl of food inside as well. She zipped the carrier up and put it on the seat just as she took out her uniform to change into. She covered up the windows the best she could and changed into her skirt, blouse, House vest, and robe. Just as she finished and flipped her curls over her shoulder she heard something hit the door. One glance out the window showed her that nobody was there, so she thought nothing of it.

"Bailey!" she called, now poking her cousin lightly, "Time to wake up! We're here."

The train then came to a stop, sending Madeline stumbling and waking Bailey up.

"Huh? Oh, we're here." Bailey said sleepily.

The ride to the castle was far worse than being on the train. Madeline had dashed through the rain with Bailey in tow and joined Fred, George, and Lee Jordan in what looked like the nearest available carriage. Their uniforms were soaked through, breaking down another barrier in Madeline's immune system as she sat there, shivering and sneezing now and then.

"Bad luck, old mum." George said, patting her on the back sympathetically.

Fred nodded, "But, of course, best not to lose our heads about getting a little chill, eh?"

Madeline sneezed into a tissue from her purse and sniffed.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." She said nasally, "You know, if it weren't for your generosity, Fred, for letting me join you in this divinely soothing," the carriage then hit a bump that made everyone's bottoms lift off the seat an inch or so, "carriage ride, I might be stuck with someone else who isn't half as kind."

"Yeah," Fred agreed with a hint of self-satisfaction in his voice, despite the sarcasm oozing from her own, while he pretended to brush his nails on his robes, "I know."


End file.
